Bank of America Credit Cards - Worth $100k? (2022 Update)

[@RJFinancial]

Thanks for tuning in! More of an Amex fan? Checkout the Amex choose your own adventure game next - kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5KwfIuXjK1geK8

[@P.I.P.E.L.I.N.E_Podcast]

Hey RJ when you said you’re thinking about starting a checking account bonus channel ever since John’s last post, we’re you like for real?

[@RJFinancial]

@@P.I.P.E.L.I.N.E_Podcast I'm for real considering it. The question is the best format and how to balance keep the consistency of 4 episodes a week here along with equally decent bank videos. I do half the work already from the standpoint of hunting and signing up for the bonuses. So still debating but it's something I want to do

[@P.I.P.E.L.I.N.E_Podcast]

@@RJFinancial cool, I just got 128$ in amazon gift cards for depositing 25$ into my Varo account 🤑🤷🏾‍♂️

[@francineford-smith6264]

As always… Thank you for such an informative video!☮️

[@sjg6158]

BoA's cards are somewhat vanilla, but polarizing in terms of rewards. Since the bank is a relationship institution, if you invest / save with them in large amounts (over $100K), their cards rise to some of the best around. The Unlimited Cash Back card gives you 2.62% back across the board. That's the best. The Customized Cash Rewards Card, gives you 5.25% back on your choice category, and you can have more than one of these cards. If you don't have a relationship with BoA though and/or you don't have the funds, then their cards fall off in terms of returns to the bottom of the list.

[@RJFinancial]

You got it. I do think BofA needs to buff the tiers somewhat. 5x is quickly becoming the table minimum with no capital requirements.

[@perezdoitbest7540]

Hear me out. 2 Customized Cash Cards and the Platinum Rewards Elite for the extra 20%. So that’s 6.3 back on the choice category.

[@RJFinancial]

I think you can still get multiple customized cash cards, tho the terms were updated to say they may not allow it. The $550/year on the elite is the killer.

[@perezdoitbest7540]

@@RJFinancial I am with you about the annual fee. But I think it is easy to get it back. You can do better with other cards welcome bonuses. But this setup is hard too bit for regular use.

[@adopter010]

Merrill not having fractional shares is the huge con for me. Luckily dividend reinvesting does allow for fractional building-up. So, great if you have an old IRA/401k to roll over and keep doing all your stuff elsewhere. Otherwise the investment behavioral risk isn't worthwhile imo, any barrier or pause between you and regular balanced contributions with your ratios is BAD. The mutual funds without additional fees with them are also horrible deals.

[@RJFinancial]

Interesting. I don't know much about the ML products. I've considered rolling over old 401ks to ML for the card benefits but I can still do better on 5x cards from other issuers. Fractional shares was all the rage awhile back, seems like a miss to not include it. Unless they don't think the target demo is interested I guess

[@sexygeek8996]

Why are fractional shares so important? Unless you are talking about an expensive stock like BRKA, just buy a whole number of shares.

[@viveksawhney5691]

I have the regular premium rewards card and the customized cash card. The cash card was originally a student card and my first credit card. I still use it the most of all my cards. I was looking into the premium rewards elite but didn't like the benefits enough to upgrade. BoA cards are by far my highest spend. I like the cash back structure.

[@RJFinancial]

The Elite card is not awesome. It's undermined by the free versions when it comes to multipliers. The credits are easier to use as they are pooled vs handed out monthly but it's nothing worth paying $550 upfront for. Given the other free cards can get the same multipliers.

[@mikebell958]

BoA is like the Walmart of all banks. I never had an interest in the bank. Their products never entice me to make a relationship with them.

[@RJFinancial]

Haha I haven't heard that one before. You really have to like Merrill Lynch to do the BofA thing. The cards aren't bad... kinda lazy aside from the customized cash... the 2nd biggest bank could do better

[@kage-fm]

the elite card is a mystery - i can’t see how the fee could possibly be justified even by frequent travelers.

[@RJFinancial]

This card is a lazy attempt to get in on the higher end card products. The current bonus offer isn't even competitive.... fail

[@JohnnyK60]

I get that that the customized cash rewards have no annual fee, but still see the 3% FTF as an Achilles Heel on non-U. S. travel.

[@RJFinancial]

Sadly I don't think BofA will change that. They likely want something to push us towards having multiple cards like the travel or the premium cards. Without that, you really only need a customized and the unlimited then your set... unless you have international spend of course

[@JohnnyK60]

@@RJFinancial Just venting - these cards are great for domestic dining and online shopping (gutta be a bit careful with merchant locations is all).

[@Re3iRtH]

@@RJFinancial oh that's good to know. I was about to pick up the customized cash card and put in the 100k. From 2023 I will be starting my 2-3 years trip around the world so you would recommend the travel card because I don't think I'd be using the customized cash card at all if they're charging me 3%.

[@RJFinancial]

@@Re3iRtH The travel card isn't bad. I think the hang up people have with it is that you can't cash out the miles. I feel like you should be starting a blog channel about this world trip coming up. It sounds cool. If you're always in and out of airports then I think you can justify one of the classic travel cards from chase/amex + maybe a hotel and airline card as well.

[@Re3iRtH]

@@RJFinancial yeah that was one of the ideas I had for a KZbin channel. The other one being I want to lay out exactly how people can go from 0 to financial freedom through a real estate investing in 8-10 years. I wanted to basically go over all my deals and step by step with all the numbers how people can approach it. I don't know maybe I could throw it all on the same channel the travel and real estate, what do you think?

[@newsnowadirondacksredux360]

I have the BoA Travel Rewards card that doesn’t get used. If I were a Merrill Lynch client I would consider getting deep with them.

[@RJFinancial]

I've always considered moving money over to ML for the card benefits. Then again, I also chase so many signup bonuses that even if I had 2.62x I don't know how much I'd take advantage of it

[@jamiejcvmg8288]

Bank of America Dm me asap lets share big bag

[@rffinances8567]

$100k really isn't a lot to park at Merrill Lynch to get the good cash back. Though I'd need to ensure there aren't extra fees compared to having it at Vanguard. This basically makes them unbeatable when it comes to pure cash back.

[@RJFinancial]

Not super familiar with ML products. 100k sounds like a lot but to your point after working a few years most have a 401k at least that would hit platinum status. I do think the tiers need to be buffed a bit. It's so easy to earn 5x now that the unlimited cash should at least hit 3x at the top end.

[@rffinances8567]

@@RJFinancial Maybe to say it isn't a lot wasn't the best way to put it, but if someone is saving and investing over a period of years, I feel like it's within reach for many. You're right that there are a lot of ways to get 5x back, but for me at least there are a number of purchases that don't fit into a category I can't do better than a flat cash back card. (Property taxes are a big one I just dealt with)

[@Afrocow]

I work at Merrill, you’ll just want to make sure the assets in your Vanguard account are transferable to Merrill. As long as your 401(k) is inactive, meaning you no longer work at the company, you can roll the funds over into Traditional/Roth IRA vehicles without a tax penalty. Keep in mind Merrill does not support low priced securities, derivatives, and proprietary mutual funds. Also the self-directed Merrill accounts do not have minimums, trading fees, or commission. Hope that clears any confusion.

[@Re3iRtH]

@@rffinances8567 exactly. Also if you're running a business specifically real estate buying stuff from Home Depot / Lowe's normally I'm getting 1X on with another credit card whereas the 5.25% would be pretty sweet, especially stacking that with a 10% military discount.

[@johnmckinstry6057]

Bank of America does have some good cards, in my honest opinion. In the last year, they have become more competitive with Amex, Capital One and Chase. The Preferred Rewards Program is great and I don’t know of any other bank that has such a program. My 401k account is with Merrill Lynch, in which I have more than $20,000 so I can become a Preferred Rewards Member after I open a deposit account with BofA. I plan to get the Customized Cash card as my first card with them, then I plan to eventually get the Unlimited Cash Rewards card. However, I don’t plan to try for any BofA cards until 2023 because I want to get one more Chase card this year before I hit 5/24 and I plan to get my first Amex card later in the year. Every few months, I do get offers in the mail for the Bank Americard, but it’s not a card that’s on my radar.

[@RJFinancial]

Do you need a checking account to get into preferred rewards? Anyways, that is the way to play them, if you can get into the system then the cards can be awesome for a cash back run. I do think other banks should copy this, especially Citi. Tech uses the ecosystem play and it locks people in, this is the same concept.

[@ctcristo]

The Alaska business card AF is wrong. It is $75 for the first card, $25 for each additional employee card. $50 AF is just them playing games hoping no one would notice. You would only get $50 if you request zero card.

[@RJFinancial]

Ah I missed that part. It would be $75 total.. my drop. The $25 per card seems like a bit much. I given there's no status or anything to pass on with it.... either way appreciate the catch

[@thomasjohnson2916]

Always a great video can you tell me does is chase automatically

[@Jason_The_Man]

I was with BofA for many years, but switched awhile ago. Not a fan. I don’t like their politics and I have had too many issues with them. I do not like they way they’ve tiered their cards.

[@RJFinancial]

I've heard a few other folks here have issues with BofA as well. One guy said is Loan officer ghosted him during a home purchase... disastrous. I don't mind the preferred rewards tiers. I do think they need to make it easier to understand and need to boost it a bit. 5x is so common now that 2.62x is cool but it's not hard to do better. Then again, they don't really want to attract people like us who know this

[@TheBankousa]

I have the Bank of America Elite Infinite Visa with Diamond Rewards and it well worth it.

[@RJFinancial]

Hey glad to hear it's working out for you. Did you have to go thru a wealth manager to get it? BofA still hasn't listed it on the main site despite it being launched in November

[@jamiejcvmg8288]

Bank of America Dm me asap lets share big bag

[@elongarrix]

Interesting... I don't see the Elite card on BoA's website. Is it a branch only card?

[@RJFinancial]

It's to protect you from its awfulness lol. Good catch tho. BofA rolled it out to customers in their preferred rewards via wealth managers I think. You can still get it in branch or over the phone.

[@jamiejcvmg8288]

Bank of America Dm me asap lets share big bag💰🥵

[@johne2721]

I just got approved for the Americard with 10 new cards within 12 months.

[@RJFinancial]

Nice! Perhaps BofA is softening up a bit. We've even seen Chase move some cards out of 5/24 so it's possible. Thanks for the data point

[@enriquemarquez2919]

Hi one question , I don’t live in the us , I just opened and account in Bank of America with 10k and they gave me a travel reward credit card , do you know if I can get a Citibank credit card without a social security number ? I am using the travel reward card since November 2021. Thanks

[@RJFinancial]

I found the below link that has a lot of good info. Looks like BofA and Citi will allow it. Citi may want an existing relationship like BofA first. May be easier to do this in branch. Also if you do open a Citi account, remember those also have signup bonuses that you can stack with card bonuses. www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/best/without-ssn/

[@thomasjohnson2916]

Can you tell me does chase automatically report trade lines or it extra steps that need to be done thx.

[@RJFinancial]

Yes, it takes maybe a month from the new account being opened for most issuers to report to the major agencies. This is for personal cards, business cards will pull credit but don't report unless the account is delinquent

[@thomasjohnson2916]

I meant for an Authorized user

[@RJFinancial]

@@thomasjohnson2916 Gotcha, Chase will also report AU info to the 3 agencies. I believe Chase is one that reports both good and bad info for the AU. You don't have to do anything extra.